San Francisco Prisons To Cut Meat Products By Half

The first-of-its-kind law in the U.S. will also require public hospitals to reduce the meat on its menus, in an effort to create a more compassionate and environmentally-friendly society.

A new, landmark policy in San Francisco means that public hospitals and city prisons must drastically reduce the amount of meat and animal products on its menus.

The policy outlines that meat, as well as eggs and dairy, must be reduced by half across the city's prisons, by 2024.

And hospitals, such as Zuckerberg General and Laguna Honda, will be required to cut the animal products currently offered to patients by 15 percent, within the next three years.

The vote was conducted in response to mounting pressure from animal rights groups and climate change campaigners, who urged the city to use its funding power to create a more compassionate, environmentally-friendly society. Hundreds of local doctors and nurses have also supported the vote.

With the City Board of Supervisors having already passed the vote, the law is now expected to be signed in by Mayor London Breed.

This latest development comes after a recent report by the American Cancer Society warned of the links between certain types of cancer and red and processed meat. 

And the new policy will surely bring significant health benefits to those in San Francisco jails, as a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that U.S. prisoners are six times more likely to suffer a foodborne illness than the general population. According to the report, one of the primary factors for this shocking statistic is the consumption of contaminated poultry.   

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